TEN OF THE BEST FILMS OF 2024, part one

Everyone can google IMDB and Metacritic, in about a second, or Variety or Den of Geek or Sight and Sound, and find other lists of the best movies of 2024. Here are ten out of 20ish I will post eventually, though the final 10 may only come in a few months, since in the UK many of the releases are due later in the year (or I have yet to see the movies). Of the ten I expect to appear in the second half, some you will have heard of - Anora, The Brutalist, A Real Pain, Sing Sing, Wicked, The Nickel Boys, A Complete Unknown.

Still - each of these ten listed below is already on many end of year lists, and is, in their own right, a great movie. At least three of the films listed below have a very good chance of winning the Oscar for Best Picture in a few months (their list is ten films long) - look under C, D and E.

BLITZ - a beautifully-filmed revisionist take on the Blitz Spirit by Steve McQueen

CHALLENGERS - a witty, erotic highly-stylised play on the tennis as love theme

CIVIL WAR - Jesse Plemons steals the show as a MAGA-like madman

CONCLAVE - Ralph Fiennes never better in a clever Christie-adjacent thriller

DUNE 2 - I still prefer Lynch's mad version, but this was epic smart filmmaking

EMILIA PEREZ - potentially offensive, but with great songs and acting; maverick

MEGALOPOLIS - deeply-flawed work of late style genius from eccentric director

MY OLD ASS - Plaza charms in this sweet, very low-key coming of age comedy

REBEL RIDGE - a star was born in this startlingly fresh take on an old plot

THE SUBSTANCE - visually stunning, powerfully feminist body horror

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